Protesters Targeted Statehouses Nationwide

Washington, DC wasn't the only capital targeted by pro-President Trump protesters Wednesday. In Atlanta, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff were evacuated from the Georgia Capitol as militia members gathered outside, 11Alive reports. Officials say they were escorted out of the building due to security concerns as Trump supporters tried to enter to deliver written grievances relating to the presidential election, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Staffers at the Utah Capitol were also evacuated as hundreds of Trump supporters gathered outside, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Tribune photographer Rick Egan says he was recording the protest when he was pepper-sprayed by man who mocked him for wearing a mask.

Protesters—some of them armed—gathered at other statehouses around the country, including in New Mexico, South Carolina, California, and Ohio, but most of the protests remained small and relatively peaceful, the AP reports. In Kansas, pro-Trump protesters entered the Statehouse, but they entered peacefully through security checkpoints and police said their protest permit allowed them to be in the building, KSNT reports. In Washington state, where the Capitol building in Olympia was closed due to the pandemic, dozens of protesters broke through a gate at the governor's mansion and remained on the lawn for about 30 minutes until dispersing after a brief standoff with police.